Aultman College of Nursing lone Stark school not raising tuition

College tuition increases seem as inevitable as the start of the new school year. However, for the first time, officials at Aultman College of Nursing have decided to freeze tuition.

By Saimi Bergmann

The Repository

By Saimi Bergmann

Posted Jul. 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 13, 2013 at 1:12 PM

By Saimi Bergmann

Posted Jul. 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 13, 2013 at 1:12 PM

College tuition increases seem as inevitable as the start of the new school year. However, for the first time, officials at Aultman College of Nursing have decided to freeze tuition.

“It’s unusual, we recognize that,” said Vi Leggett, a vice president at Aultman.

One of the reasons for the decision was the federal government’s increase of interest rates on student loans.

“We wanted to continue to make sure (college) is affordable for our students,” Leggett said.

Aultman is the only Stark County college not raising tuition for the 2013-14 school year, but some schools also froze their rates. Ohio State University will hold steady, as will Wayne College in Orrville, a satellite of the University of Akron.

A 1.5 percent increase at Kent State Stark and Kent State’s main campus is the lowest increase in the last four years. Kent State University Stark and Stark State College remain comparable bargains despite modest increases. Stark State is $150.30 per credit and Kent Stark starts at $235.50 per credit.

Tuition at the Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown increased by about 2.5 percent, which spokesperson Heather Bing says is the “lowest tuition increase we’ve had in the past 25 years.” Nearly half of that increase will be allocated to student scholarships.

The steepest hikes are at private universities. Tuition at both Malone University and Walsh University will increase 4.5 percent. The University of Mount Union will go up by 2.7 percent, but at $27,380 per year, it remains the highest-priced university in Stark County.

Officials at Walsh, Malone and Mount Union all said their “sticker price” is misleading because 98 percent of their students don’t pay that much due to grants, scholarships and institutional aid.

“The average residential student at Walsh, after scholarships and grants, pays $16,500 on average,” said Teresa Griffin, assistant vice president of university relations. “The message we want to get out there is when you compare us to public schools, we’re not that far off to what students are paying out of pocket.”